At some point or another, everyone gets an unexpected bill. It’s one thing if you forgot or lost track of time—quite another when a business ups the price. That’s what one woman says happened to her when she went to a dealership for routine brake work. Julia Muirhead (@julia_muirhead) opens a TikTok about the experience with a blunt take: “Car dealerships are an [expletive] joke.” Muirhead explains she needed rear brake work, specifically two brakes and two rotors. She says local shops were quoting her around $500, but her dealership came in lower at $380. Since she already had a recall repair scheduled, she decided to handle everything at once. “Kill two birds with one stone,” Muirhead says. But when she brought the car in, she said the price had changed. According to Muirhead, the dealership tried to charge her $700 for the same work. She says she pushed back, pointing out the original quote, but the dealership wouldn’t budge. She ultimately declined the repair and says she had to sign a waiver acknowledging the condition of her brakes before leaving. Tell us what you think! View Comments After that, she took the car elsewhere and said she found a much cheaper option. Muirhead says Pep Boys completed the job the same day for $350. “Shout out Pep Boys,” she says. “That place is great. I will never go anywhere else.” She says the experience left her confused, especially since rotors are typically among the more affordable components in a brake job. Was The Dealership Trying To Scam Her? It’s not unusual for a dealership’s quote to increase once the car is in the shop. While it can seem nefarious, and sometimes is, there are reasonable explanations for why this can happen. Brake and rotor jobs can vary widely in price. To replace rotors and pads, most drivers will see estimates anywhere from a few hundred dollars to $800, depending on the car, the parts needed, and the shop doing the work. Dealerships almost always come in higher than independent shops, in part because they use manufacturer parts and equipment and typically charge higher labor rates. In Muirhead’s situation, the dealership’s final number was on the higher end of typical, while the price she got at Pep Boys was on the lower end. That said, a big change from an initial quote can still catch people off guard. Sometimes it comes down to what the original estimate included. A lower quote might assume basic parts, while a higher one could reflect upgraded components or additional labor once the car is inspected. It’s also common for shops to flag other issues after a closer look. If something like worn hardware or extra damage shows up, for instance, the price for repairs can increase. If that’s the case, though, that should be clearly explained before any work is done. The bigger issue is how it was handled. When the price changes at the last minute without a customer understanding why, people start to lose trust. This is a big reason why trust in dealerships tends to be low. For something like brakes, it usually makes sense to get a couple of quotes and ask exactly what you’re paying for before you move forward. Viewers Slam High Dealership Prices Commenters who came across Muirhead’s video sounded just as frustrated as she was, with many arguing the dealership’s quote was far too high for a brake job. “$500 brake job is insane,” one person said. “It takes minutes.” “Brakes shouldn’t cost more than 300 to 400 dollars; it’s about 120 per axle that includes brake pads and rotors, and about 80 to 140 per hour per axle, depending on the tech working on it,” another wrote. “As someone who works on their own vehicle, in my personal opinion, nobody should pay more than $150 for two rotors and a brake pad set,” a third added. Others acknowledged that prices can climb, but still said dealerships are the pricier option. “Ma’am rotors cost like, 100-160 each depending which and where u get them, and then the pads can be anything from 60-90 bucks for a box of 4, either front or back,” one commenter said. “Then the labor cost lol but yea you NEVER EVER go to a dealership for anything.” “As a dealership tech, I will tell you that $350 was probably just the labor,” another opined. “I will say, though, it is a bit more expensive because the parts are genuine vs. aftermarket, though still dealership mishandled this situation.” Some zoomed out, offering broader views on dealership pricing versus independent shops. “Dealerships will never have your best interest at heart. They will always get as much money out of you as possible,” one person said. “Find a good, honest mechanic around.” “Dealership work will always cost more b/c they use OEM parts from what I know,” another added. “But there is no reason OEM should cost double of a known good brand lol.” “Pep Boys is king,” a third viewer said. Motor1 has reached out to Muirhead via a direct message on TikTok and to Pep Boys through email. We’ll be sure to update this if we hear back from either of them. We want your opinion! What would you like to see on Motor1.com? Take our 3 minute survey. - The Motor1.com Team